‘Straying’: The realities of a love quadrangle

The "L/R15" project to make two sex comedies with an R15 classification, given to films judged inappropriate for viewers under the age 15, brings together the talents of Hideo Jojo, an award-winning specialist in adult films, and Rikiya Imaizumi, a maker of light dramas about the romantic troubles of young urbanites.

The first to be released was “Love Nonetheless,” which was scripted by Imaizumi and directed by Jojo. For the second, “Straying,” the roles were reversed, with Imaizumi directing and Jojo scripting. Both films, however, feature a black-and-white cat.

The feline plays a central role in “Straying,” though this film is not one of the many in Japan targeted at cat lovers. It has Imaizumi’s signature touches, beginning with a romantic roundelay that verges on farce, while comically revealing its four principals’ foibles. Though it offers up fewer laughs than “Love Nonetheless,” the film is more knowing about the ways sex can complicate and clarify relationships.

Also, unlike the so-called pink films that abruptly transition to full-throttle sex scenes every 10 minutes or so, “Straying” blurs the line between the sexual and nonsexual. As the characters get it on, they complain about a foot cramp or comment on the odd faces their partner is making, moments that are both humanly funny and real.

The story begins with Ako (Nairu Yamamoto), a modestly successful manga artist, and Hiro (Katsuya Maiguma), a disgruntled reporter for a sleazy tabloid, arguing over who will get their cat, Kanta, after their impending divorce.

Their bickering is civilized — they do not raise their voices or throw objects — but their pain is also real. Though they were once close, Hiro’s confession to Ako that he has been having an affair with a co-worker, Mamiko (Miyuu Teshima), has wrecked the relationship.

A photographer for the same tabloid as Hiro, Mamiko is a pro at her unsavory job and unapologetic about her dalliance. But she is also not a stereotypical woman of easy virtue: Just as Hiro nurses an unfulfilled ambition to be a novelist, Mamiko once wanted to be a photographer whose work would fill galleries, not tabloids. She is also in love with Hiro and suspects that his talk of divorce is less than sincere.

Meanwhile, Ako is having her own fling with Matsuyama (Kai Inowaki), a young editor for a manga magazine who visits her apartment to collect her work and supply sexual healing. Seemingly content to be his charge’s boy toy, Matsuyama also wants something more, but is slow to reveal it.

Then one day, perhaps fed up with all the human commotion around him, Kanta slips out an open window and doesn’t return. Ako and Hiro mount a frantic search that leads to an unexpected twist — and the inevitable spilling of secrets. One revelation is that Kanta is also in a relationship — with Mimi, a kindly neighbor lady’s cat.

As usual with the female protagonists in Imaizumi’s films, Ako and Mamiko are complex beings with agency and individuality, not fantasy objects for male viewers. They are also sharper than their slow-on-the-uptake partners, if hardly flawless.

And though the film earns its R15 rating, it does so without the sort of tacky exploitation found in tabloids like the one employing Mamiko and Hiro. Finally, the ending for Kanta and Mimi is blissfully happy — and family friendly.